Aerosol scattering and absorption modulation transfer function

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent experimental measurements of overall atmospheric modulation transfer function (MTF) indicate significant difference between the turbulence and overall atmospheric MTFs, except often at midday when turbulence is strong. We suggest here a physical explanation for those results which essentially relates to what we call a practical instrumentation-based atmospheric aerosol MTF which is a modification of the classical aerosol MTF theory. It is shown that system field-of-view and dynamic range affect strongly aerosol and overall atmospheric MTFs. It is often necessary to choose between MTF and SNR depending upon dynamic range requirements. Also, a new approach regarding aerosol absorption is presented. It is shown that aerosol-absorbed irradiance is spatial frequency dependent and enhances the degradation in image quality arising from received scattered light. This is most relevant for thermal imaging. An analytically corrected model for the aerosol MTF is presented which is relevant for imaging. An important conclusion is that the aerosol MTF is often the dominant part in the actual overall atmospheric MTF all across the optical spectral region.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
PublisherPubl by Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers
Pages102-118
Number of pages17
ISBN (Print)0819412104, 9780819412102
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 1993
Event8th Meeting on Optical Engineering in Israel: Optical Engineering and Remote Sensing - Tel Aviv, Isr
Duration: 14 Dec 199216 Dec 1992

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume1971
ISSN (Print)0277-786X

Conference

Conference8th Meeting on Optical Engineering in Israel: Optical Engineering and Remote Sensing
CityTel Aviv, Isr
Period14/12/9216/12/92

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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